Bradley AD doesn’t see unions as ‘good news’

PEORIA — If any of its athletes ever become unionized, Bradley University would adapt well, athletics director Michael Cross said on Saturday.

“With no football, we don’t have the additional 100 athletes in a sport that would be more inclined to unionize,” Cross said. “Those resources for schools with football have to come from somewhere. That allows us to focus on our 200 athletes in a way that’s beneficial to us.”

Potential unionization for college athletes took a big step forward last month when a regional office of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Northwestern University football team members are university employees and should be able to bargain collectively for their fair share of a billion-dollar industry.

Northwestern players voted by secret ballot Friday whether to become college athletics’ first labor union. Results of the vote will remain sealed as the university challenges the decision.

“I don’t look at this as good news,” Cross said. “But if we got to a stage where Bradley needed to collectively bargain, we would want to be as competitive (for recruits and on the playing field) as possible. If we can provide certain benefits other institutions aren’t able to, I think we become a more attractive rather than a less attractive institution.”

Like most athletics administrators, Cross sees plenty of downside to a potentially unionized landscape.

“At the extreme, if the employee is not performing, can I get rid of them?” Cross said. “Where many people take great issue with this is the vast majority of people are in this business because they believe in the educational mission of the institution. We’re here to educate young men and women. It’s a time in your life where you’ll make mistakes. It’s important to do so in a safe environment to fail.

“To say your ability to get an education could now be at risk because I can make changes as to whether you’re on our team really troubles people. It’s been turned on its head by this ruling.”

Cross also said Title IX — the educational amendment that guarantees gender equity in college sports — is at risk under a unionized system because the relationship between athlete and school is no longer an educational enterprise, but an employer-employee one.

“Some institutions will follow (Title IX) because they feel it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “But I don’t think they’d necessarily be required to do so.”

Unionization of college athletes would be a much different animal than the professional sports models.

“If we get to the state of collective bargaining across campuses, it will be much more difficult to operate because of the sheer number of people and the sheer number of schools (and their differing budgets and philosophies),” he said. “In the NFL, they’re all under one umbrella. College sports don’t have that capability at this point. And I can’t imagine it ever will.

“What you’ll start to see happen is something you see in higher education generally. Numerous union representations on campus — trade workers, custodial staff — each bargain their own situation. Football players could say they’re interested in a union, but basketball players might say they’re not.”

Thanks to the Northwestern players’ actions, athlete unions on college campuses are now much more than a fanciful notion. But they’re still a long way from reality.

“It is all very hypothetical at this point with a lot of legal challenges to come,” Cross said. “But it has the potential to have ground-breaking consequences. Everyone’s paying attention to it.”

While the present ruling would apply only to private universities like Bradley, because they are subject to federal labor law while public schools are under state law, Cross said that’s something that may well change as the case evolves.

“We treat our athletes at Bradley incredibly well and give them everything they need,” he said. “We would hope they never feel compelled to start a union.”

Dave Reynolds can be reached at 686-3210 or at dreynolds@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @davereynolds2.